In a popular petition being circulated and signed by plus-sized women, premium lingerie brand is being asked to come up with options for those who don’t fit the bill of perfectly shaped bodies. The rhetoric against size-zero and unrealistic notions about perfect body shaped bring promoted by fashion brands has been growing louder over the past few years. The body image prompted by various fashion brands, Victoria’s Secret being a front runner in that league, has not only pushed many a woman to the brink of depression and triggered eating disorders but has also left plus-sized women feeling marginalized when it comes to clothing options.(Click here to see who will be the next Victoria’s Secret model.)
By not having options for plus-sized women, Victoria’s Secret is mincing no words in sending out the message that anyone with fat and cellulite is not welcomed to use their products. Though that’s the way things have been at Victoria’s Secret – and the fashion industry at large – since one can remember, plus-sized women are viewing it as an act of discrimination and have decided to not take things lying down anymore. The petition demanding a wider range of options for plus-size lingerie makes for a strong case. Here are a bunch of real customers, not mannequins or ramp models, who yearn to stroke their sense of vanity with the best lingerie a premium brand like Victoria’s Secret has to offer. Their disappointment at being marginalized or left out is palpable.
So far, Victoria’s Secret has been losing out on a potential customer base because of being too blindfolded by its success to take notice of the growing demands for bigger sized lingerie and changing market trends. There are more than 2.1 billion plus-sized adults worldwide, of which over 130 million are US residents. Dana Drew, author of the petition to Victoria’s Secret, claimed there is a large group of plus-sized women in US alone. Considering these whopping figures, Victoria’s Secret is losing out on a sizeable market by not catering to big women. The fact the premium brand has lingerie line-up for women with naturally bigger and artificially enhanced breasts makes this exclusion of women with plus-sized bodies becomes even more absurd.
The other major point of contention is the sizes offered by the brand. Many customers with bulky bodies complain that even though don’t exactly fit the plus-sized criteria as defined by the fashion industry (sizes 12-24), the sizes offered by Victoria’s Secret aren’t proportionate to their body type.( Know more how to choose clothes for different body type.)
In its defense, Victoria’s Secret has carved a niche of itself on the basis of its exclusivity. It has never been a brand that promotes inclusivity and caters to women of all shapes and sizes. Though the brand was swift to respond to the petition with a Perfect Body Campaign, whether it will go the extra mile by catering to the needs of plus-sized women remains a mystery. If the past records of the brand are anything to go by, this looks like an unlikely change.
WooPlus, a dating site for plus-sized people, strongly supports the petition. We at WooPlus, believe that beauty is skin-deep and it is unfair to marginalize people on the basis of their size.
